Hank Hayes

Reinstating an assault weapons ban has no chance of passing the GOP-controlled House, U.S. Rep. Phil Roe said in a conference call with reporters today.

"In the office here, the phone calls have been 20 to 1 against (the ban)," Roe, R-Tenn., said. "We had almost 1,100 calls saying 'Leave my guns alone', and 50-some wanting to ban them. It is what it is. I don't see that passing. If you look at the data...I've got grandkids aged with those kids at Sandy Hook, it makes me physically sick to think about (the December massacre at Sandy Hook). But we had more people killed with hammers last year in this country. Twice as many got beat up by people with their fists than with any kind of rifle...We have a serious issue but if you look at all of these tragedies, every single one of them was by someone incredibly unstable. It wasn't a licensed gun owner."